Idaho committee considers bill requiring schools to record student immigration status; measure fails after tie votes

The Idaho House Education Committee on an unspecified date considered RS 32-405, a proposal carried by Representative Steve Tanner that would require any school or district receiving state funds to record the immigration status and nationality of enrolled students and aggregate that information for public reporting or submission to the superintendent of public instruction.

The bill, as described by Representative Steve Tanner, would create a new chapter of the education code and "requires any school or district that receives state money to record the immigration status and nationality of the students and then ... aggregate it and make it publicly available." Tanner said the measure would define elementary and secondary schools as grades 1 through 12 and align immigration-status categories with the Immigration and Nationality Act as he cited it.

Committee members raised multiple concerns during roughly an hour of questions and discussion. Representative Mathias questioned the fiscal note and asked, "how did you arrive at the…